Healthy diet for woman can ensure good brain health for grandchildren, genetic model: Study
New Delhi (PTI): Mothers who eat apples and herbs during their early pregnancy could be protecting the brain health of their children and grandchildren, a Monash University study using genetic models has found.
The discovery is part of a project that found a mother's diet can affect not just her child's brain but also those of her grandchildren.
Published in Nature Cell Biology, the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute study found that certain foods could help prevent the deterioration of brain function.
This study used roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans) as the genetic model because many of their genes are also found in humans, allowing insights into human cells.
The researchers found that a certain molecule present in apples and herbs such as basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage helped in reducing the breakdown of communication cables needed for the brain to work properly.
Senior professor Roger Pocock, with his team, investigated nerve cells in the brain that connect with each other through about 8,50,000 kilometres of cables called axons. For axons to function and survive, essential materials need to be transported along an internal structure that contains microtubules.
Pocock explained that a malfunction that caused the axons to become fragile can lead to brain dysfunction and neurodegeneration.
He said his team used a genetic model with fragile axons that break as animals age. "We tried to find whether natural products found in the diet can stabilise these axons and prevent breakage," he explained.
"We identified a molecule found in apples and herbs that reduces axon fragility -- ursolic acid. How? We found that ursolic acid causes a gene to turn on that makes a specific type of fat. This particular fat also prevented axon fragility as animals age by improving axon transport and therefore its overall health."
Pocock said this type of fat, known as a sphingolipid, had to travel from the mother's intestine, where food is digested, to eggs in the uterus for it to protect axons in the next generation. He said while the results were promising, they still need to be confirmed in humans.
"This is the first time that a lipid/fat has been shown to be inherited," he said. "Further, feeding the mother the sphingolipid protects the axons of two subsequent generations. This means a mother's diet can affect not just their offspring's brain but potentially subsequent generations. Our work supports a healthy diet during pregnancy for optimal brain development and health," Pocock said.
Read the full paper published in Nature Cell Biology, titled 'An Intestinal Sphingolipid Confers Intergenerational Neuroprotection'.
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One dead in landslide, 235 rescued amid heavy snowfall in J-K’s Kishtwar
Jammu (PTI): One person was killed and another injured in a landslide near a hydro-power project, while over 230 people, including women and children, were evacuated after they were caught in heavy snowfall at the high-altitude Sinthan top in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, officials said on Monday.
In view of the inclement weather, the authorities have ordered the closure of all educational institutions outside the municipal limits in Kishtwar and adjoining Doda district for Monday as a precautionary measure, the officials said.
A landslide, triggered by rain, struck a hydro-power project site near Dangduru in Kishtwar district on the intervening night of Sunday-Monday, trapping two workers, the officials said.
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While one worker was later found dead, the other was rescued in an injured condition and shifted to a hospital, they said.
In another incident, the officials said, a joint rescue operation by the police, Army and the civil administration successfully evacuated 38 vehicles carrying 235 passengers to safety amid heavy snowfall at the Sinthan Top connecting Kishtwar in Jammu region with south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
“On March 15, information was received that 235 civilians were stranded at Sinthan top due to heavy snowfall and severe weather conditions. Troops of the White Knight Corps were immediately mobilised to launch a swift rescue operation despite the treacherous terrain and relentless snowfall.
“Braving extreme weather and snow-blocked roads, the rescue teams reached Sinthan top and provided the stranded civilians with hot meals, drinking water and shelter. Repair and recovery teams restored the mobility of the stranded vehicles, while passengers from the unrecoverable vehicles were safely evacuated.
“Medical teams rendered assistance and essential medicines to those in need,” the White Knight Corps said in a post on X.
“The mission witnessed seamless coordination between the Army, J-K Police and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation, reaffirming the Army’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding lives in the harshest conditions,” the post added.
Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma, along with SSP Naresh Singh and the commanding officer of the 11 Rashtriya Rifles, supervised the rescue operation, which continued for several hours, the officials said.
